AOL = America Off Line

Time Warner released its Q3 earnings report Wednesday, and boy does it look
sad for AOL. In terms of subcribers, numbers dropped 5.1 million to
10.1 million, over a 33% drop in one year's time.

According to Time Warner the firm’s revised strategy to refocus its business from subscribers to advertising is to blame for the subscriber loss. The company also sold off several of its overseas businesses over the past year, including AOL France, Germany and UK, and noted that its subscription service became less attractive as the company decided to offer its email service free of charge.

Time Warner said that AOL revenues declined 38% or $745 million from $1.96 billion to $1.22 billion year over year. Subscription revenues declined by 56% during this time. Operating income declined by 24% or $95 million from $390 to $295 million in the same period.

Before the merger in 2001, AOL was a high-flyer, but it make several misjudgments as broadband became prevalent and the evidence of those errors can be seen just from the dropping of AOL from the corporate name.